DHAKA: Heart-rending pictures of a toddler’s lifeless body washed ashore on a Turkish beach sparked horror as the cost of Europe’s burgeoning refugee crisis hit home.

The images of a child lying face down in the surf at one of Turkey’s main tourist resorts has once more put a human face on the dangers faced by tens of thousands of desperate people who risk life and limb to seek a new life in Europe.

Wearing a red T-shirt and blue shorts, 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi from the Kurdish-Syrian city of Kobane was believed to be one of at least 12 Syrians trying to reach Greece who died when their boats sank.

The body of his 5-year-old brother, Galip, washed up on another part of the beach.

‘If these extraordinarily powerful images of a dead Syrian child washed up on a beach don't change Europe’s attitude to refugees, what will?’ Britain’s Independent said in remarks echoed in newspapers across the continent, reports Al Jazeera.

The Turkish coastguard said two boats had sunk after separately setting off from its Bodrum peninsula for the Greek Aegean island of Kos early on Wednesday.

Among the dead were five children and a woman, while 15 others were rescued, the coastguard said.

The pictures, which were widely shared on social media, triggered an outpour of angry reactions.

Some were demanding immediate action from their governments to help refugees, others were scolding fellow Facebook users for posting the images, saying they were too intrusive or confronting.

BDST: 2151 HRS, SEPT 03, 2015
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